


It Takes Two

by Skyson



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 08:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8155868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/pseuds/Skyson
Summary: Daisy is temporarily brought back to HQ, and not entirely by her own choice. But something is wrong with Phil, and she couldn't deny Simmons' request of her presence.Multiple chapters.





	1. dhá

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely inspired by a Tumblr convo between Badrowboats and Becketted about cloning... I started the idea a while ago, but I didn't start fleshing it out (no pun intended - maybe) until after 4x02.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

"Who the hell is that?" Daisy asked, frowning deeply at the suit staring at her. He had a wide, disarming grin on his face, but it only made Daisy more suspicious.

"That's our Director," Jemma informed her, tone slightly warning. Daisy's eyes widened in surprise, and she took in his appearance again, slower this time. Facial expression aside, he had a stance about him that told Daisy he was tougher than he looked.

"Hello." He also had an Irish dialect, interestingly enough. "Daisy Johnson."

Daisy glanced at Jemma, who pursed her lips and folded her hands together in front of her. She stood next to the Director comfortably, as if it were nothing new to her.

"Have you been promoted?" Daisy wondered, mildly amused by that. Jemma looked vaguely embarrassed, and nodded.

"We've got levels again. We - "

"Ahem." The Director carefully cleared his throat, and Jemma stopped talking, glancing apologetically at him. Daisy raised her eyebrow, and the Director held his hand out toward her. "It's good to finally meet you in person. Jeffrey Mace."

Daisy shook his hand slowly, but firmly. He had a good grip. And there was something off about him, something that was making her 'Quake Alarm' go off, but she wasn't sure what it was yet.

"Oh, gosh," Jemma touched her ear and turned toward Jeffrey. "I need to get back to the lab. Apparently...well, they're both awake." She was concerned enough about this that she didn't even look toward Daisy again before hurrying down the hall.

"Ah, yes." He looked perturbed, and faced Daisy again. She blinked at him, not having found any reason to relax, yet. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but you're here for a reason. Can we speak in my office?" He requested, and actually stood there waiting for Daisy's answer.

She nodded, and he seemed relieved, and led the way down the hall. It made her wonder what he would've done if she'd refused. Whatever he wanted to talk about must've been need-to-know, because he didn't speak again while they were in the halls. They passed faces that Daisy didn't recognize, young and old. Some of them ignored her completely, some of them nodded and smiled toward the Director, and some of them stared at her openly, mouths agape.

"I bet this place looks a little different, huh?" Jeffrey mused, and she shrugged, but then they walked into the lounge and kitchen area, and her mouth froze half-open for a moment.

"Uh, yeah, a little," She frowned as she looked around the room. Everything was so...clean, and ... Straight. All right angles.

It made her uncomfortable and even more on edge than before. And walking into the office, that feeling only became worse.

Granted, she should have known that the space would be different. She doubted the new Director would want to sit surrounded by all the stuff that belonged to the old Director, but, still. There was nothing on the walls, nothing on the desks other than basic office supplies. Even the paperwork laying about still had a clear organization to it. There was nothing that personalized the room.

And the very large man standing guard at the door hadn't taken his eyes off of Daisy once.

"That's a heck of a body guard." Daisy complimented, looking the man up and down. He didn't even blink, and she slowly turned back toward Jeffrey, who was smiling.

"We're good." He assured the man, who nodded and closed the door between himself and the two of them. "Somebody has to keep me safe," He joked as he pulled some bottles of water out of a small fridge, "Unlike Phil, I'm more of a bureaucrat man than the boots on the ground. I have to be; as you know about the President wanting SHIELD to front and center, again."

Daisy accepted the offered bottle and twisted off the lid as she pursed her lips in thought.

"While that may be true, something tells me that you don't need anyone else's help keeping yourself safe."

His eyes seemed to narrow just slightly; the first instance she'd seen a hint of anything other than positivity on his face. However, he only leaned his hips back casually against the edge of his desk, opening his water as well.

"So why am I here and not in handcuffs or locked away in one of the pods?" Daisy asked, wanting to get to the point. She hadn't missed how Jemma had been the only team member that she'd seen since arriving at the base.

"We have an issue, and I'm told you're the very best at finding people who don't want to be found." The Director replied casually, and she folded her arms across her chest.

"I didn't want to be found. And you got me."

"Everyone has a weakness, even those who try their damnedest not to." Jeffrey tilted his head slightly as he looked at her, and she blinked. He gestured toward her. "That face, that way you blank out so you don't give anything away? Yeah, you see, Phil Coulson and I go way back, to our days in the Academy. I know that face." Daisy frowned. "And I knew that you would come knowing that Phil was in trouble."


	2. 两

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The history I threw together here will most definitely be jossed. Take it with a grain of salt.

"This guy, you're sure he'll be able to help Coulson?" Daisy asked, even as she began typing away. Jeffrey was standing behind her, his hand on her chair as he read the computer screen over her shoulder. He wasn't quite in her space, but he was still acting more casual than she would have expected. Especially with her.

It was weird to work at 'her desk' in Coulson's office when it wasn't Coulson's office anymore. And it wasn't her desk anymore.

"We're certain. Agent Simmons assures me he's the best in his field." Jeffrey confirmed.

"Which is...?" Daisy prodded, her fingers pausing. The hunt would be easier the more information she had to work with.

"Neurosurgery."

" _What_?" Daisy turned and looked up at him. His hand slipped off of her chair and he stood straight, sighing. "What exactly is wrong with Coulson?" She demanded.

"He's - okay, she always says these things that go in one ear and out the other, but - it's not exactly his brain." He paused, and Daisy raised her eyebrows pointedly. "It kind of has to do with his brain? Which is why we need outside help. But it also has to do with some sort of alien thing."

"Is it the GH serum? Where is he?" Daisy pushed her chair away from the desk, but Jeffrey was shaking his head and continued to stand in her way.

"Finding this doctor's location is priority, here,"

"You're not my boss," Daisy narrowed her eyes.

"If you want to help Phil," Jeffrey said firmly, "you will help us find this doctor. Then I can take you to see him." Daisy momentarily considered quaking this guy and taking her chances with his bodyguard outside, but then she thought better of it. She didn't know half of the agents around here anymore, and didn't know what they had been told about her.

"Fine." She muttered, glaring at him as she turned back around toward the computer. He shifted to stand to the side, leaning his hip against the corner of the desk and folding his arms across his chest.

"How much do you know about Phil?" He wondered, and she glanced up to see that he was frowning.

"How much do you know about me?" She asked in return, continuing to type. He was silent for a bit.

"You were romantically involved," He realized, nodding to himself, "it makes so much sense, now." Daisy's hands froze again, and she looked up to stare at him in surprise.

"We're _what_? No, no, we were never...like that." Her brow furrowed and she once more focused on the computer. She dug through online social media sites a bit more before looking back up at him. "And what do you mean 'it makes so much sense now'?" Jeffrey shrugged.

"Phil. His lack of objectivity when it comes to you. And Agent May, though they've been friends for decades; that isn't much of a surprise."

"But it's a surprise for me? Why? Because I'm not some SHIELD groupie like you guys?" Daisy grouched, glaring at the computer screen. "I'm sorry that the Academy got blown up before I could partake in 'the good old days'," She said sarcastically.

"I clearly don't know everything, which I will take up with Phil once he's feeling better, but I have read the reports. He had a particular fixation from the first moment he met you." Jeffrey was still looking at her like he was casually sizing her up. "And you're his type."

"His type?" Daisy scoffed, in disbelief that this conversation was happening. When she'd woken up this morning, she definitely hadn't thought she would be anywhere _near_  HQ, and she certainly would never have guessed in a million years that a stranger would be assuming she had a _thing_  with Coulson.

"Beautiful, intelligent, resourceful. And can hold her own in a fight." He replied with another shrug, and Daisy raised her eyebrow at him.

"Are you flirting with me right now?" She demanded, and he laughed. _Laughed_. Was this guy seriously the new Director?

"No," He assured her easily.

She wished he weren't so disarming. Or so damn Irish. Wary and distrustful as she still was, it was difficult to dislike him. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was made the new Director.

"Here." She printed a screenshot of the webpage. "His home and his office address." She pushed her chair away from the desk again, and this time Jeffrey let her stand. He went toward the printer as she went toward the door.

"Ah, wait for me, please." He warned her, and she paused, gritting her teeth. "The others have been told that you shouldn't be wandering around alone," He explained apologetically, and she shrugged as if that didn't bother her. As if she didn't already know this place like the back of her hand. (Though, who knows what else has changed since she's been gone - the lounge already looked like a completely different place.)

"So why am I really here?" Daisy asked as they made their way down the hall. "That was a basic hack to find his home address, and his office address was right there on his public profile page. Don't tell me your cyber guys are THAT bad."

"They aren't," He assured her, "In fact, we've kept in the team you had trained while you were here. The numbers have gone up a bit, but your old team did a pretty good job of bringing the new guys up to speed."

That surprised her. She figured they would've done away with everything that she'd been associated with, to better secure the facility.

"You're here," He sighed, "because of Phil's... Issue. He's... Well, there's a part of him, anyway, that's a bit...irate." This was the first time that Jeffrey sounded unsure of his words, and it made Daisy suspicious. "He doesn't seem to understand why you aren't around. He thinks we've locked you up somewhere."

"Seriously?" Daisy wondered, starting to worry again. "Can you at least tell me if this has to do with the serum?" She asked quietly, so the others in the hall couldn't hear.

"It does not, unless that somehow interacted with the artifact itself." Jeffrey answered her, lowering his voice as well. "Though as of right now they believe it was entirely the artifact."

"What was the artifact?" Daisy asked.

"That's classified." Jeffrey replied, and she could have smirked at that. Could have. Maybe would have, under better circumstances.

As they neared the labs, they could hear voices raised in argument.

"Look, she _would have_ been by to see me by now if she were physically able to! Stop lying to me!" It was Coulson, and he sounded fed up.

"Oh my God shut up." Coulson spoke again, groaning, his tone lower like he was tired.

"Is he..." Daisy furrowed her brow as they reached the doorway, "arguing with himself?"

"He does that a lot." Jeffrey nodded, walking with her around the lab table toward the medpod set up in the corner.

"Is it like...schizophrenia?" She wondered, not seeing Coulson yet. She was too apprehensive to worry about recognizing any of the lab techs, or seeing if Fitz or Mack were in the room. Jemma was standing just on the other side of the door of the open medpod, her back to Daisy.

Coulson was sitting on the end of the bed, one hand pressed against his forehead as if he had a headache. He hadn't noticed Daisy or Jeffrey yet.

"No, not schizophrenia..." The Director trailed off, offering a smile to Jemma as she turned, hearing their voices. Her movement revealed another body in the room, standing to the side of the bed, hands propped on hips and incredulous look on his face.

Coulson.

But...

Coulson was sitting on the bed?

Everything about her froze, and she blinked, wondering if she had been drugged, or if she were the one with the brain disease, or if she'd even awoken at all this morning and she was actually still dreaming.

"Daisy," Jemma greeted, sounding incredibly relieved, and both Coulson's whipped their heads up toward the trio.

They both looked surprised, though one of them seemed definitely more excited than the other.

"I think I had a dream like this once." Daisy breathed carefully, taking a hesitant step closer to the medpod. Jemma stepped out of the way, standing next to Jeffrey.

"Daisy!" Coulson (the one standing) exclaimed, reaching for her. She tensed, readying for a hug that she wasn't sure she could handle, but his hands landed on either side of her face instead, and his lips on top of hers.

She blinked widely, alarmed, rooted to the spot as he kissed her. Clearly he was overwhelmingly happy to see her, but -

She pressed her palms against his chest and pushed him off of her. She didn't use her powers, but he still stumbled back a couple steps. He looked confused for a second, and then hurt. She was too flabbergasted to feel bad about hurting his feelings.

"Wow, looked like he waited a while to do that again." The Director mused, and Jemma looked up at him, half-alarmed by his comment and by the grin on his face.

"Again?" The scientist repeated.

Weirded out by Coulson 1, Daisy pushed by him and stepped up to Coulson 2, who still sat on the edge of the bed. He smiled at her, but he looked more tired than anything else. And apologetic?

"Sorry about him," He started, grunting when Daisy shoved hard at his shoulder. He frowned. "What was that for?" He grumbled, rubbing his shoulder.

"Oh my God, what the hell is this?" Daisy demanded, turning to glare at Jemma and Jeffrey.

Coulson 1 stood there staring at her, shifting his weight from foot to foot, wringing his fingers together in front of him. His nervous tell was even more obvious than usual, and it was making Daisy more uncomfortable by the second. The fact that she was literally standing between two of him was alarming enough.

"Did you make a _robot_  of Coulson?" Daisy exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm not a robot!" Both Coulson's protested at once. She pressed her eyes closed tightly, counting to three before opening them. That didn't change anything; there were still two Coulson's standing in the room with her.

"They are - he is - in fact correct; not a robot." Jemma confirmed. "Best I can tell from scans, they are both entirely human. And entirely, biologically, Agent Coulson... Though, the hand is an interesting bit."

"Look, Daisy!" Coulson announced excitedly, holding up his left hand and wiggling his fingers. "It's a real hand! It's my hand!"

Still frowning, Daisy stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, pulling his arm closer so she could examine it. He stopped moving his fingers, but she could tell he was restraining himself from touching her again.

She let him go and turned toward Coulson 2, reaching down and grasping his left hand. He furrowed his brow at her, but let her turn his this way and that. When she ran her thumbs down his palm, he jerked his hand away.

"He has a prosthetic." Daisy said to Jemma, pointing her thumb behind her at Coulson 2. "So he's the real Coulson? And this one's what, a copy?"

Both of them, particularly the one who was just called 'fake', looked affronted.

"If anyone is _real_ , it's _me_ ," Coulson 1 argued, and Jemma made an apologetic face as she gestured for Daisy to step out of the medpod.

"We are having a bit of a problem with that," she admitted. "Stay in there!" She ordered Coulson 1, who had shifted like he was about to follow Daisy out of the room.

"But -" he pouted, and Daisy stared at him. Coulson 2 fell back onto the bed, groaning as he threw his arm over his eyes.

"Please, just for the time being." Jemma said soothingly, typing away at her tablet as the door slid shut and sealed off. "I promise I will send Daisy back once we're finished...bringing her up to speed."

Coulson 1 sighed and plopped down in the chair next to the bed. Jemma then typed some more, releasing sleep gas into the room.

"There." She let out a breath of relief. "That should give them a nice rest for a few hours."

"What the hell - why - wh..." Daisy stopped, no idea where to even begin. "Why are you talking to him like he's a child?" She started.

"He's easily, eh, reactive. Emotionally." Jeffrey told her. "If you hadn't noticed." Daisy glared at him.

"Oh, I definitely noticed, considering that Coulson has never, _ever_  kissed me before." She replied pointedly. He raised his eyebrow as if that interested him.

"Why don't we return to my office, where we can attempt to answer your questions more privately?" Jeffrey suggested without suggesting. "Jemma?"

"Yes, they should be fine for now." Jemma nodded, following them along out into the hallway. "I've scanned images of the artifact into the system, let me just transfer it to you so we can take a look at it on the monitor in the office..."

As she typed away on her tablet, Daisy glared suspiciously at the Director. He either studiously ignored her, or he was too preoccupied and actually did not notice the weight of her gaze.

"So how well do _you_  know Coulson?" She asked him. "You seem awfully concerned for a guy who's job you took."

"I didn't take his job," Jeffrey replied easily, nodding a quick greeting at one of the agents they passed. "In fact, his approval was a necessary requirement. And to answer your question, Phil and I have known one another for decades. I worked primarily at the Triskelion when he was promoted to the Avengers Initiative, and, well, you know what eventually happened to the headquarters. Director Fury promoted me to Level Nine and had me assist him on a few operations while the world thought he was dead, and then I spent some time managing over Rune."

"Rune?" Daisy repeated. "What is Rune? Does that have something to do with the Kree language? Did you _know_  about it?"

"No," He held his hands up in an innocent gesture, "nothing to do with the Guest House. It's technically Rún, r-u-n, but Fury suggested the r-u-n-e spelling so people were more likely to pronounce it correctly." He smiled wryly. "Not like that many people knew about the base, anyway."

"Rún," Daisy said thoughtfully. "Gaelic?" He nodded.

"Basically, 'secret'. Fury thought it was funny." He rolled his eyes.

"One of Fury's bases, huh..." Daisy went back over the timeline in her mind. "So you knew Fury was alive the whole time?" He nodded again.

"He stayed at Rune for a bit. He hadn't survived unscathed, and he had some serious recovery to do. That man is one tough son of a bitch, that's for sure." Jeffrey replied admirably. "Anyway, I was still there when I got a call from The President."

"The President knows about Rune?" Daisy exclaimed in surprise, and he grinned and shook his head.

"No, but he apparently knew my cell number. Said I came 'highly recommended', and wanted to meet with me. One thing led to another, and here I am." He held out his arms.

"You mentioned the Guest House. Did you know what they were doing to Coulson?" Daisy asked accusingly.

"I did not," He assured, "Coulson clued me in on some things after General Talbot had informed me that Coulson was one of the people who'd recommended me for this job. I was quite surprised to hear his name, I assure you."

"So you're telling me you knew - you helped - Fury's survival after the fall of SHIELD, but you didn't know Coulson was still alive until recently? I thought you said you were Level Nine?"

"Fury promoted me and immediately moved me to Rune. He was making preparations for the future that he had predicted would happen. I had a direct line to him and access to more information, but I was still in the public eye. No one knew I was still working for SHIELD; I was an employee at the American Embassy in Dublin. With my SHIELD background, that allowed me closer access to any alien issues that cropped up in the country - they didn't have anyone else with that kind of experience. Granted, I myself hadn't dealt with much alien stuff directly since I was Level Five, but the Embassy didn't know that." He hesitated. "Eventually I was hired by the defense department. I continued to show up at the Embassy, but that became a dual cover. Neither the DOD nor my fellow Embassy coworkers ever knew that I was still a SHIELD agent."

He paused while they walked through the lounge, where a handful of agents were relaxing. He nodded hello toward them, but didn't continue speaking until the three of them reached the top of the stairs.

"Fury didn't tell me about Coulson, and I didn't have access to his file. I learned about the program he'd been working on, though; a way to save an Avenger should they go down in battle. I knew that the project was only mildly successful, and no one took it over after Coulson died. Well, that part proved untrue, obviously. And I knew Coulson died by the hand of Loki, Thor's brother. Just knowing all that, though, was more information than most."

He held the door open and indicated Jemma and Daisy enter the office first. He shared a nod with his guard, and shut the door behind them.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Daisy wondered suspiciously.

"Saving you the effort of hacking into the system later," He replied, gesturing Jemma toward the big screen. She approached it and did some swiping on her tablet, bringing up a file and a three dimensional diagram of some object on the large screen.

Daisy had further questions for the Director, but she put them aside as she furrowed her brow toward the diagram. It was cylindrical, too short and wide around to be a cane, but possibly could be some sort of billy club. There was a ring attached to either end of it, but Daisy couldn't tell whether that was design or had some sort of use. It was hard to see really anything other than the basic shape of the thing, with the diagram.

"Do you still have possession of this thing?" Daisy asked Jemma, stepping closer to the screen as Jemma zoomed in on the artifact, focusing on the designs that curved around the entire thing.

"It's locked away," Jemma informed her. "After Agent Coulson touched it and this...happened... We didn't want to risk anything else. For now, until the Dwarves can give us more information, this here is what we have to go on." She indicated toward the screen.

"I thought you said this has nothing to do with the serum?" Daisy wondered, her eyes on the object.

"It doesn't." Jeffrey stepped closer, trying to see what she was seeing. "Does it?"

"That's Kree." She told him seriously, pointing.

"Are you sure?" Jemma frowned, tilting her head to the side. "It doesn't look..."

"Trust me. I'd spent weeks, hell, months looking at those markings. That's definitely Kree." Daisy insisted.

"Do you think it _did_ react to Coulson for a reason?" Jeffrey asked Jemma worriedly, and she pursed her lips as she typed furiously on her tablet. "Do you know what it says?" Jeffrey asked Daisy. She scoffed.

"No, I don't know what it says. I was born in China and grew up in New York." She snarked. "I'm afraid learning alien languages wasn't a part of the public school program."

"Well, you figured out Coulson's carving predicament." He folded his arms across his chest, not quite annoyed, but looking like he was finally starting to get there. "Seems to me when it comes to this stuff the two of you always seem hand and hand."

"So _that's_  why I'm here." Daisy figured, and he pursed his lips, and didn't say anything else. She sighed heavily and pressed her fingers against her eyelids for a moment. Regardless of anything else, there were two Phil Coulson's downstairs right now, and they clearly thought they needed her help about it. "Alright, Simmons, give me the low down on this artifact."


	3. deux

Having the entire organization to run, The Director eventually urged Jemma and Daisy back to the lab, putting Daisy entirely in Jemma's hands.

"Wow, are you like his right hand man, now?" Daisy wondered half-teasingly, and Jemma blushed slightly, shrugging and nodding at the same time.

"I'm one of his advisors." She replied somewhat cryptically. "Level Orange, actually," She added a little proudly, and Daisy raised her eyebrow.

"Level Orange?" She repeated, then shook her head. "I don't want to know," She muttered.

"I'm going to run this against the images we have of all the carvings you and Agent Coulson had... discovered, and the Kree orb. Perhaps we may find some commonalities and get a better understanding of what this artifact says."

"The um, the carving on the wall?" Daisy suggested softly, "Focus on the right side of it. Most of that had been a map, remember. There was just a small bit that didn't fit in with the rest; looked more like letters than the lines and circles that..." She frowned. So much had happened since Coulson's whole carving episode, they had never really discussed it. She assumed that he had stopped carving once they discovered the underground city. But he still had the Kree blood or DNA or whatever it was in him that had been making him do that. Clearly it didn't make him Inhuman, with the whole hand encased in stone thing, but what if it made him something else? And this was some sort of iteration of that?

"Can I... Can I sit in there with him? Them?" Daisy asked, and Jemma hesitated, but then her gaze softened and she nodded.

"Of course. You must miss him." Jemma smiled lightly, and unlocked the medpod door.

"Jemma, please tell me you're not buying into that guy's weird presumptions," Daisy groaned, and Jemma interrupted,

"Of course not. I just mean how we all miss you."

"All of you?" Daisy asked pointedly, raising her eyebrow as she glanced around the lab. Fitz wasn't in the room at the moment. Jemma pursed her lips.

"Fitz misses you, too, he's just... An idiot when it comes to expressing his feelings." She rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed with him. "And anyway," She added in a quieter voice, "we all know that Agent Coulson has been the one working the most trying to find you and bring you back. He misses you a great deal, although he won't admit it." She shrugged. "He was always closer to you than he was to any of us."

"That's not true!" Daisy protested. "He cares about all of us!"

"Yes, but some more than others." Jemma replied, giving Daisy a look. "That's not a bad thing, Daisy. He's a good man."

Daisy narrowed her eyes, and Jemma rolled hers again.

"As a _friend_ , Daisy. Relax." Jemma gestured toward the medpod. "You do understand I'll have to lock you in there?"

"What, ol' Jeff will tell me his whole backstory but still doesn't trust me to walk around without a babysitter?" Daisy snarked, stepping into the room once the door slid open. She turned around before it slid shut again, as Jemma stepped toward her.

"He's trying to earn _your_  trust." Jemma told her. Daisy frowned, but then Jemma had that soft look on her face again. "It is so good to see you." Jemma smiled a little, reaching out and touching Daisy's arm. "I just wish it were under different circumstances..." She sighed, looking behind Daisy toward the still-sleeping Coulson's.

"Under different circumstances, I would probably be wearing shackles on my wrists and be locked up in the vault downstairs." Daisy replied dryly, but she bit her lip and reached up to grasp her friend's hand in her own for a moment. "It's good to see you, too." She whispered, and Jemma's smile widened.

Daisy dropped her hand and stepped back further into the room, and Jemma slid the door closed.

"Let me know if there's anything you need. I'll be just over here," Jemma pointed over to her lab station, and Daisy nodded.

She took a few steadying breaths before turning around and facing the two men in the room.

So many times before, they'd sat by one another's bedside during recovery, but this was something else entirely. Assisting with research or medical was one thing - how the hell was she supposed to fix some one who'd been turned into two?

Just looking at him was difficult enough, after she had spent so much time trying to distance herself. And now she had two of him to look at.

In different circumstances...

She shook her head and sat down in the other chair in the room, next to Coulson 1, who was still sprawled in his own chair, asleep. It didn't look very comfortable, but she also didn't want to wake him yet. She leaned her elbow on the armrest of her chair and rubbed her hand over her eyes.

If she'd known _this_  was what she was going to be dealing with today, she would've gotten some sleep last night.

**< ><><><>**

Something touched the back of her wrist and she jumped, lifting her head out of her hand. She had dozed off for a bit, but not long enough to forget the predicament they were dealing with.

"Sorry," Coulson whispered, and she turned her head toward him. He was awake, albeit very sleepy looking, drawing his hand back onto his lap. Daisy blinked, sighing quietly as she chewed on her cheek for a moment.

She wanted to look at him, really look at him; take him in and see how he's changed since she'd been gone. But that was dangerous, and she couldn't allow herself to get too attached again. She couldn't stay here, and she wouldn't - eventually, once they could fix Coulson, she was gone. She would fight her way out of this base if necessary.

(God, it felt so good to look him eye-to-eye again, though. Be this close to him, not ducking from bullets or running away or spying on him when he doesn't know. Just sitting.)

"This is weird, huh?" He mused, looking over at the other Coulson when she didn't say anything.

"Coulson, why did you think that I was still here? On base?" Daisy wondered. He frowned, looking frustrated with himself.

"I don't...sometimes I get confused. My memories... Jemma thinks it's because two bodies are trying to share the same consciousness, or something like that. I guess sometimes it's not all firing one hundred percent between the both of us." He gestured between himself and the Coulson still asleep on the bed. His legs were hanging off the end, and Daisy momentarily considered getting up and shifting him further onto the bed. However, she would rather speak to one of them at a time, if possible, so she let him be.

"Is that why they want to find this brain doctor? They think he'll be able to see something in your brain scans that they can't?" Daisy wondered, and he shrugged.

He must've still been groggy from the sleeping agent, because he was far less manic now than he had been the first time Daisy was here.

"I'm sorry I kissed you." He told her, and she blinked at him.

"Was that a confusion of your memories, too?" He didn't reply. "Because you know, we haven't. Ever. So if you're brain is cooking up fake memories,"

"It's not!" He interrupted her, shifting a bit nervously and glancing toward sleeping Coulson. Sleeping Coulson frowned and shifted, but didn't wake up. "It's not, I'm not ... Crazy." He frowned and rubbed his hand hard across his face. "I'm still _me_ , I'm just..."

"Agitated?" She guessed, seeing that he was definitely that, at the very least. He slumped in the chair again.

"Daisy, it's like... It's like any sort of control I had before is gone. I can't... I don't know how to _hide_  myself," He whispered that last part, clearly horrified with himself.

"Ohhh," Daisy figured, slowly looking back toward Coulson 2. "So he's like, Agent, and you're just Phil?"

"This isn't funny." Coulson 1 pouted, and Daisy bit her lip to keep from smiling.

"Gosh, in different circumstances I would _love_  this," She sighed, shaking her head a little, and he frowned like she'd just made a dirty joke. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. This is serious. Okay, I'm not laughing." She promised him.

"Yes you are." He muttered, slouching further in his seat. She raised her eyebrow at him, seeing that he was glaring at Coulson 2.

"Why don't you tell me about this new Director? What's up with that?" She changed the subject, and he shifted in his chair, sitting up straight a little more.

"The President wants SHIELD out in the open again. I can't be the face, any more than Fury could. So I suggested who would be a good replacement."

"So you went with Mr. Irish?" Daisy frowned, and he smirked.

"Jeffrey is a good agent, and an excellent leader. His methods are a bit different than mine, but he can be a Director that SHIELD needs."

"A guy that will follow the rules?" She pointed out, and Coulson met her gaze.

"And every bureaucrat needs their guy who'll break them."

"Is that why he's so concerned about you?" Daisy realized. "He told me that the two of you have some history, but it's more than that, isn't it? You're his prized junkyard dog." He pursed his lips at her description.

"I'm not _mean_." He argued, and Daisy rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean." She shifted so she could face him more comfortably, unconsciously leaning closer to him. "I have a very serious question though."

"Okay," He said after a beat, shifting as well, mirroring her position.

"Have you ever seen him in a kilt?"

He gave her a dry look, and she lifted her eyebrows.

"No." He replied, and she sighed.

"Damn. Ah, well." She grew serious then, "So what exactly does he know about you? The GH serum? My association with that?"

"He knew about the TAHITI program by the time of the Battle of New York. He knew that I had died in that battle. He didn't know I was still alive until I name dropped him to the President for this job. Now, he's aware that Fury used the TAHITI project to "save my life", and he's aware that I then used it to save yours. But he does not know exactly what that project entails... Doesn't know that it's primarily alien," He explained, and Daisy frowned.

"He has to, or at least assume that it is - he thinks this mysterious artifact you messed with has interacted with your old project, somehow." She pointed out.

"We told him that the GH serum was _derived_  from alien sources, but is almost entirely of this earth. Jemma gave him a percentage in the nineties range."

"You... He believed that?" She wondered incredulously. Coulson 1 shrugged.

"Honestly, I'd be surprised if he did. But he didn't argue it."

"He knows we're ...close." Daisy mentioned, and he gave her a curious look. "Just by reading the old reports. I'm here because he thinks I can fix this, because he thinks you and I are connected."

"Connected how?" Coulson asked.

"I'm your type?" She asked pointedly, and he blushed, of all things. "He thinks we were romantically involved." She grinned in amusement, but he didn't. He looked almost disappointed. "Coulson?"

"I'm not talking to you anymore." He stated, shifting to sit forward in his chair, looking toward the bed again.

"Excuse me?"

"It's not fair." He gestured toward sleeping Coulson 2. "Look, he's supposed to know all the same things I know. Talk to him about this stuff."

"I'm not - if it's the same, then why can't I - "

"Because it's not fair!" Coulson interrupted, and she blinked at him.

"What's not fair?" She asked levelly, trying to calm him down. "He had a point, you know; I did figure out that the map was a map."

"And you did that by spending time with me while I was carving, looking at the carvings for weeks, doing research - we'd spent tons of time together!"

"So?"

"So, if you want to help figure this thing out, do it with _him_ ," Coulson 1 pointed toward Coulson 2, who was groaning and now stirring, waking up. Daisy frowned.

"You _know_  it was Kree," She frowned, "and you touched it anyway. You _had_  to have recognized that writing, Coulson. I did pretty immediately." He was still frowning straight ahead, not looking at her. "Why did you pick it up?"

"That's not the problem. The problem is there are two of me and there should only be one." He returned, and Coulson 2 pushed himself up onto his elbow, glaring sleepily at them.

"What the hell?" He complained, and Daisy sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Our little issue is probably going to take some time to figure out. _You're_  working with her on that." Coulson 1 informed Coulson 2, and Coulson 2 raised his eyebrows at him.

"Am I?" He challenged.

"Are you really that mad at me?" Daisy wondered, and Coulson 1 finally turned toward her, looking at her like she was nuts.

"Mad at you?" He huffed out a sarcastic laugh, "Hell, Daisy, I'm not _mad_  at you, I'm - "

"Shut _up_ ," Coulson 2 interrupted him forcefully, and a bit surprisingly, he listened. "What do you need from me?" Coulson 2 asked Daisy calmly, sitting up completely and smoothing a hand down the front of his rumpled dress shirt.

"I need," She wanted Coulson 1 to finish his sentence. "We need to examine this artifact together. I need you to tell me everything you can remember upon finding it, touching it, anything before and after."

"The Director has a draft of the report. I talked to Simmons about this earlier." Coulson 2 informed her, and she nodded, scooting forward onto the edge of her chair.

"Yes, and I will read that, but I'd also like to hear it from you. You may remember something that you didn't tell her. I may understand some small detail that Jemma didn't write down."

"Simmons is a very thorough agent." Coulson 2 frowned, and Daisy inwardly sighed. This was like, old school Coulson.

"I know she is." She conceded.

"Okay," Coulson 2 sighed, shifting to the side of the bed to face her, sitting on the edge and resting his hands on his knees.

Daisy wasn't exactly boxed in, but both of them sitting so closely to her unnerved her. It reminded her a bit too much of her dream.

"Let me uh, see if Jemma can move us into a room somewhere, maybe with the artifact." Daisy suggested nervously, glancing toward Coulson 1. He appeared frustrated now, but wasn't looking at either of them.

"Okay." Coulson 2 nodded.


	4. zwei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short new chapter while I edit the next one. Apologies for the delay!

"It's good that you're back," Fitz commented as they stood side-by-side in front of one of the lab computers. She frowned.

"I'm not back." She informed him, paying more attention to the screen than toward him.

"Right, of course," He murmured, scratching the back of his neck.

"Simmons won't let anyone anywhere near the artifact." Coulson 2 announced upon entering the lab, and Daisy nodded knowingly.

"Figured." She sighed. "Alright, we'll make do with these scans. Fitz, can you help me with the holo-screen, please?"

"Sure, sure," He quickly agreed, tapping some things on the keyboard to send the images to the holo-table. They moved to stand around it, Coulson and Daisy side-by-side and Fitz on the other side of the table across from them.

"Zoom in on those markings around that part," Daisy pointed, and Fitz did as asked. She never had gotten around to using this holo-table very well. She asked Coulson, "Do you remember these markings? Do they look familiar to you at all?"

She watched as he furrowed his brow, leaning in and tilting his head slightly as he examined it.

"The op we sent Agent Ward on, the photos he took of the giant chalkboard. It had a part of the map on it, but it also had these, didn't it?" Coulson eventually said, his voice emotionless at the mention of Ward, which both relieved her and unnerved her at the same time.

"Right," She replied, "Are any of these the same, though? I mean, the exact same?"

"The symbols seem very similar, but they aren't in the same order."

"And you didn't notice this when you first touched it?" She pressed, and he frowned.

"We got a tip that there was a weapon in the area, one that had been stolen from some sort of, like, sanctum or something?" Fitz perked up at Coulson's words, and pulled out his tablet, but didn't interrupt. "Word was, some nasty guys were after it as well. Watchdogs, or remnants of Hydra, who knows - all I knew was that we had to acquire it before someone dangerous did." Coulson 2 shifted his feet, as if he were ashamed about what he was going to say next. "I didn't really think too much about consequences or side effects. I _should_  have, knowing about the staff and how it had affected May... but the perimeter had been breached, and we were being evaced. I grabbed the artifact and we jumped into the containment pod."

"Were the effects immediate?" She asked him, and he shook his head.

"No, not entirely. It wasn't until the pod had reached the Zephyr that I started feeling lightheaded, and the rest I only know from what Simmons and Mack have told me. I passed out, but I didn't have any negative vital signs, so they just let me rest for a bit. While they were examining the artifact, at some point a set of five fingerprints lit up on it - my fingerprints, turned out - glowed a kind of blue before fading away. When Simmons checked in on me, I was ... us." He gestured between himself and Coulson 1, who was still standing near the door with his arms folded over his chest.

"What's up with him?" Daisy frowned, and Coulson 2 frowned as well.

"Nothing." He muttered, obviously knowing and not wanting to talk about it.

"What colour blue was it?" Daisy wondered, and he raised his eyebrow at her.

"What does that matter?" He returned, and she shrugged.

"It might not. But... I don't know. Was it...like the serum? Like, _Kree_  blue?"

"I don't know, I wasn't there, remember. Fitz?" He turned toward the scientist, who was bent over his tablet as he typed away.

"Uh, eh, yeah it was kind of a lightish blue, deep blue but bright, sort of glowing..." He was clearly distracted. Daisy and Coulson 2 shared a look, but then Fitz blurted, "Sanctum!" And thrust the tablet toward them through the hologram.

"What are we looking at?" Coulson asked, accepting the tablet from him and holding it so both he and Daisy could look at it together. It was a news article.

"News from last month. About a _sanctum_." Fitz explained. "I didn't recognize it at first, but the media only really published one or two things about it. Somebody with lots of strings hid this, and hid it well. But there's this reporter, a photographer really, just a kid - "

"Fitz. You're rambling." Daisy tried to get him back on track.

"Right. One person managed to publish an article about this. A street in New York, specifically Greenwich Village, suffered some damage a few weeks ago. Some sort of attack." Fitz continued, and Coulson frowned again.

This Coulson frowned an awful lot.

"How did we not hear about this?"

"I don't know. But current satellite footage shows nothing amiss. Foot traffic is normal, buildings seem intact, shops are open. The artifact is no doubt from this place, though. Maybe in the rush cleanup, this club thing accidentally got lost." Fitz replied, as Coulson handed him back his tablet.

"Wait, what was the address?" Daisy asked, not quite catching it before losing sight of the screen. Fitz twisted the tablet around to scan the article.

"177 Bleecker St."

"You're fucking kidding me." Daisy exclaimed, and Coulson looked at her like she'd just spoken gibberish.

"The doctor that Mace made me look for. That's his address." Daisy informed them, and Coulson raised his eyebrows high.

"You're kidding."

" _No_ , that's what I just said. What the hell does Jeffrey Mace know that he's not telling us?" Daisy demanded, and Coulson looked like he wanted to know exactly that, as well.


	5. dau

"What do you know about this guy?" Daisy demanded, moving passed the giant body guard and straight into the Director's office. May and Mack were standing in the room with him; the three had been having a meeting about something.

The Director sighed, shaking his head toward his bodyguard and allowing her to stay.

"Daisy, welcome back," Mack greeted softly with a smile. Daisy didn't quite meet his eyes; she couldn't take his kindness right now, and also she was riding on her anger with the Director.

"I'm not back." She retorted, keeping her eyes on Jeffrey. He returned her gaze just as steadfastly, and May cleared her throat.

"Perhaps we should finish our discussion later?" She announced, jerking her head toward the door, asking Mack to follow her out of the room. He hesitated, but did as asked, the two of them giving Daisy looks as they walked by her.

As soon as the door had shut again, she approached the desk closer. The Director rounded it, prepared to defend himself, perhaps, who knows, meeting her almost exactly where May and Mack had just been standing.

"What do you know about this doctor? Why did we look him up specifically? How is he connected to the artifact?" She pressed, and he tilted his chin up slightly, as if he needed to make himself appear taller than her. He wasn't built like Mack, but he was easily comparable to him, so she didn't exactly understand the need for the gesture.

"I don't know enough about him, which is why we've called him in." The Director answered a bit cryptically, his voice clipped and final. He was giving her all he was going to give her. "We also need his medical expertise, which is what lured him in. He  _also_  might know something about this artifact that we don't. Which I will ask him about, once I've got him on location."

"Who is he? Is he some sort of Inhuman? Connected to the Kree? One of the Kree?"

"I don't know." He enunciated each word pointedly, then narrowed his eyes. "And even if I did, why should you know? You're here to assist us. You aren't an agent. You aren't even an asset. Once this is solved - "

"Once this is solved," She interrupted with a warning tone in her voice, "I'm leaving."

"Are you?" He sounded amused by that, and raised an eyebrow. She clenched her fists.

"You think you can stop me?" She challenged, and the pen cup on his desk rattled. His eyes narrowed again, but his smirk didn't go away. He just stared at her, until the rattling stopped.

"You're just as attached to Coulson as he is you. As long as he's in trouble, I don't have to be the one to stop you." He replied knowingly, casually, and she grit her teeth in annoyance, because he was right.

"This doctor isn't putting _a finger_  on Coulson until I've spoken with him first." She informed Jeffrey, turning round and walking out the door before he could reply.

She didn't see his amused-but-suspicious expression as he watched her leave.

**< ><><><>**

"Out of respect for who you are, I won't - but you do know that I can very easily figure out where we are right now?" An unfamiliar voice sounded bored and almost annoyed, and Jeffrey's tone was quite sarcastic in response.

"I appreciate that. Now, if you would follow me, our problem is down the hall, in the med bay." Their footsteps neared Daisy's location by the door, so she decided to wait there for them.

"What can you tell me about it?" The other man asked seriously, sounding like he was getting into business mode. Daisy heard Jeffrey sigh heavily.

"It's easier to explain once you've seen it, I think."

They rounded the corner, and Jeffrey noticeably started when he saw Daisy leaning against the entrance to the lab, her arms folded casually across her chest.

"You look familiar." The stranger tilted his head thoughtfully as his brow furrowed. Daisy didn't mask her surprise as she looked him up and down.

"I thought you were a doctor." She mused, and he pursed his lips.

"I am." He stepped closer, offering his hand out toward her. "Dr. Stephen Strange. And you're Daisy Johnson." He realized as he spoke, and she nodded, accepting the handshake.

"You're a neurosurgeon?" She half-asked, noticing the slight tremors in his fingers. He nodded once, gently but quickly pulling his hand away, clenching his fist once before relaxing.

"You're a vigilante." He gave her that same thoughtful look again, before glancing to Jeffrey. "Working for SHIELD?"

"N-"

"Not relevant." Jeffrey interrupted, stepping between them and into the labs. "Follow me, please." He led the way back to Coulson's pod, Daisy following right behind the doctor, watching him carefully. There was something off about him. The vibes she was getting from him were unlike any she'd felt before. She had a feeling -

"I assure you, I am human." Dr. Strange spoke over his shoulder, as if he thought that would appease her. She gave him an alarmed look.

"But you can read minds?" She pointed out, and he laughed.

"Not at all." He gestured toward her face. "I've seen that expression enough times to know what it means."

"As you can see," Jeffrey stood by the closed door of the pod, pointing his thumb back toward the interior where Coulson 1 was sleeping on the bed and Coulson 2 was standing at the adjacent wall, arms folded as he warily watched the group.

"Twins?" Dr. Strange wondered, stepping closer to the door so he could peer through the glass. "Remarkable," he murmured, "even at their age, they seem to have _no_  individual distinguishing features. They even have the same curve of a broken nose..." Dr. Strange narrowed his eyes and turned toward Jeffrey. "They aren't twins, are they? Have you started cloning?"

"What?" Jeffrey exclaimed, having not expected that. "No! No, he's," Jeffrey frowned as he waved his hands about in an attempt to explain. "He's the same person. _We_  haven't cloned him, but we're afraid something has. We need help fixing it."

"Kill the clone." Dr. Strange shrugged, not seeing the problem.

"No!" Daisy shouted, as Jeffrey just stared at the doctor with an appalled expression. "Look, no, it's not that simple. It's not one complete Coulson and then a copy of him - it's like Coulson has been _split_. Neither of those are a complete version of him. Plus... I mean, we don't exactly know which one is the 'original'."

Dr. Strange nodded once as he took in this information, and looked thoughtfully into the medpod again.

"If you say they are a split of the same person, perhaps neither of them is an original, so to speak. They are both the original." Dr. Strange mused. Jeffrey rubbed his temples, frowning deeply.

"This is why I wanted to call you in. My brain hurts just _trying_  to find an explanation for it."

"Do you know what happened prior to the split?" The doctor asked them. "Was there a spell involved?"

"A _spell_?" Daisy repeated, her eyebrows raised high. "You do know Harry Potter isn't real, right?" She pointedly looked at his attire. He rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. But _magic_ , a version of it? Very real, I'm afraid." He said, entirely serious. Daisy blinked at him.

"He was on a mission, there was an artifact involved. We're fairly certain it's alien." Jeffrey explained before Daisy could say something else sarcastic. Dr. Strange narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"May I see it?" He asked, and Jeffrey shook his head firmly.

"No, I'm not allowing anyone anywhere near it until we figure out if we can fix this. Here," he gestured them toward Fitz's lab computer. "We have scanned it into the system. Full detail."

Daisy watched as Dr. Strange leaned closer to the computer, his brow furrowed intently. It only took him a moment before he stood straight again.

"What sort of equipment do you have around here? I believe I know how to fix your friend, but I'll need supplies. I need to build a," he frowned with distaste at his next word, "thing."

Jeffrey looked at Daisy, and she nodded.

"I'll go find Fitz." To the doctor she explained, "He's our head engineer. He'll be able to get you what you need."


End file.
